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news
National Cycling Centre (British Cycling).jpgUCI bars transgender cyclist Emily Bridges from debut as woman at National Omnium Championships this weekend
British Cycling has confirmed that transgender cyclist Emily Bridges will not now make her competitive debut as a woman at the National Omnium Championships in Derby this weekend, saying that the UCI has informed it that under current regulations, she “is not eligible to participate in this event.”
We will have more on this story in the morning. In the meantime, in a statement released this evening, the national governing body said:
At British Cycling, we believe that transgender and non-binary people should be able to find a home, feel welcome and included, and be celebrated in our sport.
Under the British Cycling Transgender and Non-Binary Participation policy, Emily Bridges was due to participate in the British National Omnium Championships on Saturday 2nd April. We have now been informed by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) that under their current guidelines Emily is not eligible to participate in this event.
We have been in close discussions with the UCI regarding Emily’s participation this weekend and have also engaged closely with Emily and her family regarding her transition and involvement in elite competitions. We acknowledge the decision of the UCI with regards to Emily’s participation, however we fully recognise her disappointment with today’s decision.
Transgender and non-binary inclusion is bigger than one race and one athlete – it is a challenge for all elite sports. We believe all participants within our sport deserve more clarity and understanding around participation in elite competitions and we will continue to work with the UCI on both Emily’s case and the wider situation with regards to this issue.
We also understand that in elite sports the concept of fairness is essential. For this reason, British Cycling is today calling for a coalition to share, learn and understand more about how we can achieve fairness in a way that maintains the dignity and respect of all athletes.
Within recent years, we’ve seen huge advancements in the science and testing around elite sports, the broader scientific and understanding of human biology, developments in protection provided by the law, and crucially a greater respect for the psychological and societal challenges of those who are transgender and non-binary. This is a complex area and by uniting, we can share resources and insights.
We know that some of these conversations are happening in pockets of the sporting world, but we want to encourage all sporting governing bodies, athletes, the transgender and non-binary athlete community, the Government and beyond to come together and find a better answer.
Across sports, far more needs to be done, collectively, before any long-term conclusions can be drawn.
Below is our original article, published at 1215 today.
A transgender cyclist who was once part of the men’s Great Britain Academy Programme, and who last month won a men’s race at the British Universities Track Championships, looks set to make her competitive debut as a woman against some of the country’s top female riders including multiple Olympic champion Dame Laura Kenny at the National Omnium Championships in Derby this weekend – although some competitors are said to be afraid to speak out about her potential participation in the event.
Emily Bridges, aged 21, revealed her struggles with gender dysphoria and the impact it was having on her, including depression and feeling isolated, in an article written for Sky Sports that was published on Coming Out Day in October 2020.
She started undergoing hormone therapy last year, and her testosterone levels are now sufficiently low to allow her to compete in women’s events under British Cycling’s Transgender and Non-Binary Participation Policy.
First published in 2020, the latest version of the policy was published in January this year following a consultation last summer that attracted 600 responses.
Transgender athletes are required to have testosterone levels below 5 nanomoles per litre for a year (men generally range between 10 and 30 nanomoles per litre) before being permitted to compete against other women.
Announcing the update, British Cycling said: “Our first Transgender and Non-Binary Participation Policy was designed to be as inclusive as possible, imposing only necessary and proportionate restrictions on eligibility to ensure fair and meaningful competition, based on the most relevant available guidance.”
The governing body said that it would “continue to follow the UCI regulations introduced in March 2020, which are based on objective scientific research and driven by a desire to guarantee fairness and safety within the sport … For this reason, testosterone levels remain the primary method of determining which members are eligible to compete in the male and female categories.”
It added: “While there has been much commentary on the effectiveness of testosterone-based measures, at the current time we do not have sufficient research or understanding to update this area of our policy in a way which is relevant and appropriate for our sport.
“However, we remain committed to moving with international bodies and scientific opinion, and supporting research efforts in any way we can.”
News of Bridges’ likely participation in Derby this weekend has attracted criticism within the media, with Owen Slot, chief sports writer at The Times, writing that should she beat Kenny – five times an Olympic gold medallist, two of those in the Omnium – this weekend, it would underline the unfairness of allowing transgender women to compete in female sports events.
Meanwhile, Olympic silver medal-winning former swimmer Sharron Davies, who believes that despite reduction of testosterone levels, transgender women retain an unfair physical advantage over biological females and should therefore be excluded from women’s sport, says that she has been contacted by women cyclists who are fearful of going public with their concerns.
“British Cycling ought to be ashamed of themselves,” she said, quoted on Mail Online. “I have had quite a few of the girls very distressed on the phone. They are frustrated and disappointed.
“They are all for inclusion but not at the loss of fairness and opportunities for biological females.”
However, Bridges’ mother Sandy, writing on Twitter, said that her daughter may have to have police protection at the championships this weekend.
“This is the reality of being trans today,” she wrote. “That my daughter has to be on a police operation plan to compete in a bike race in the UK. How in any way can that be #SafeToBeMe2022.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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301 comments
You do realise the competitors were amongst the responders who voted to let her compete, right? Or are you so far up your own transphobic fundament you're ignorant of that fact?
I haven't dodged the question, I've just asked you to define terms. You're AMAZINGLY adept at flailing around screaming that things are unfair, when you don't have the slightest clue what "fair" means in an objective sense, and we all know why you ignore the requirement to define "biological female", and that's because you can't do so and you know it. It's a fatal flaw to every transphobes whining.
"a woman is someone who identifies as a woman"
So, on that basis, anyone, regardless of their chromosomes or genitalia can simply say, I'm a woman, I'm entering the next women's race.
Get real!
if it weren't for governing bodies adding in incredibly suspect and not massively scientifically sound criteria in order to compete, then yes.
its almost like the completely arbitrary split into "mens" and "womens" sports, mostly from the point at which women couldn't compete.
if you disagree, please give a scientifically complete definition of "biological female" (and bio male, if you like) . None currently exists, so you may be some time.
So, and a simple yes or no will suffice, if Anthony Joshua woke up tomorrow and announced he was now a woman, you'd have no problem with him competing against a woman in a heavyweight boxing match? It would be fair and just in your opinion and "she" wouldn't have an unfair advantage?
Exactly - why do they have all this hormone and testosterone business then? Does nosferatu the labeller disagree with those regulations? Is everyoe a transphobe in their book until proven otherwise? They seem angry.
Is it OK for a man to brutally assault women in public, get sent to prison and then identify as a woman and go to a womans prison and carry on that sexual violence in a womans prison? Clearly not. Somehwere we need to have some common sense about how we recognise reidentification.
No, just stating facts. Make a transphobic comment, you're a transphobe. It's pretty simple.
They have these regulations in place becsuse sports bodies are flailing, trying to defend an outdated, mysoginistic system (the reason we have womens and mens sports is because originally we only had mens, women were banned, as a general theme) that enforces a crude binary not related to the real world. So they try to find a way to measure "male" and "female", in ways that are absolutely shoddy but have the benefit of being cheap.
The prison systems issues were covered the last time people thought they could debate peoples existence and it be ok, and it goes far beyond your crude attempt at dog whistling
Is that you Kier?
no
Are you saying those are just two different words but with an identical definition and meaning?
Please enlighten us what a woman is then?
And why is it not up for debate?
because identity is personal, and you don't get to debate whether people exist or not. Same as you dint get to debate the humanity of other races or the validity of sexualities.
a woman is a gender identity, and is not tied or dependent upon any specific biological characteristics.
Wrong. A woman is not a gender identity. Gender identity is what the person wants to be.
In case you are wondering, a woman is an adult female human being, courtesy of the Oxford Dictionary.
wrong. Gender identity is that the person is.
"Adult human female" is the usual cry of the transphobe.
I agree with you, identity is personal. However, if I identify as a pigeon, it doesn't mean I am one (or would you disagree?).
so you're trivialising gender identity and deciding it is the same as a "species" identity now? Wow.
Well, there are other situations worth comparing, which certainly are not "trivialising":
https://blog.apaonline.org/2021/07/06/changing-identities-are-race-and-g...
In your opinion. Others are entitled to their own opinion.
no, it's a fact. Bye transphobe.
Well the UCI had better not show face in Scotland once the Scottish government push through their Gender Recognition Act Reform 2022 bill.
This bill basically states that a male can self-ID as female and no questions asked.
Yes, and about time too.
gender critics can do one.
Really?
So you think it is acceptable for a man with all his tackle to be able to walk in to female changing rooms, etc.? Just because he self-id's as a woman?
Really?
yes. Why is it a problem? If you know someone's genitals when they're in a cubicle I'd suggest you're the one with the problem.
also, don't dead gender people. If they are a woman, use the correct pronouns. Costs you absolutely nothing.
You need to give your head a wobble.
nah, I'm good.
Day 1: Attend protest in support of transgender rights.
Day 2: Attend protest in support of fairness in sport.
Day 3: Realise you've just contradicted yourself.
Only seems to be an issue for transgender (male to female) so there's an issue here. Seem to recall that para-sport struggle with (broadly) similar issues where athletes contest the category they're placed in. Only a small example but typifies how modern western liberal democracy just ties itself up in knots; meanwhile more people are losing democracy and China and Russia continue to spread their influence.
Seriously?
False dichotomy.
You can worry about more than one thing at once. Getting finer degrees of fairness internally, whilst encouraging coarser degree's to those less mature places.
Sport isn't fair because people are not created equal, but we categorise in an attempt to make things fairer: age, size and gender all come into this at some point or other.
Age and size are difficult to blur, though I'm sure that my 10-year old centre forward of a son has faced one or two 70kg + defenders this season that he shouldn't have. Gender is different because it can be blurred, is a politicised subject, and more often than not brings with it size and strength advantages.
Sidestepping the politics, perhaps the starting point could be a secret ballot of the other contestants, to see whether they object?
It may be the case that in certain events they don't, but in competitions when titles are at stake they might. And this should be respected. Otherwise competitive sport could become rather pointless.
Hopefully other biologically female competitors in sport start taking the boycott stand. This should have been nipped in the bud a long time ago but nobody wanted to risk offending a fraction of a percentage of the population.
Spot on...
Please define an objective standard, supported by science, of "biologically female"
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